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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

I taught a bf class today of 12 lovely clever smart people and NOT ONE of them knew what formula was made of

176 replies

harpsichordcarrier · 13/07/2008 20:31

not single one of them knew that formula is made from cows milk.
in fact they looked very surprised.
and in about four weeks time about half of them will probably give some to their babies.
weird, isn't it?

OP posts:
fruitful · 13/07/2008 22:09

Although, since when was cow's milk not "real food"?

Nighbynight · 13/07/2008 22:21

Er, NEVER if you're like me and have no lactase in your tum.

sabire · 13/07/2008 22:45

Although, since when was cow's milk not "real food"?

What - even when it's been denatured, chemically processed, freeze dried, reconstituted....

I don't think of formula as 'real food' in the way I don't think of Complan or Slimfast as 'real food'. They are 'real food' substitutes.

Flibbertyjibbet · 13/07/2008 22:52

I knew it was made from cows milk... but have no idea what happens between udder and bottle.
Does anyone know what the process is? It must be incredibly processed to remove lactose, add whatever they add and then turn it into something that completely dissolves in even cold water pretty quickly.
I bet if that sort of information was well publicised it might dissuade people from the 'closest to bm' type marketing rubbish

sabire · 13/07/2008 22:54

I don't think they remove the lactose in ordinary brands.

idontbelieveit · 13/07/2008 22:57

At my breast feeding peer support training, 3 out of 12 trainees didn't know it was cow's milk derived

Flibbertyjibbet · 13/07/2008 23:00

How does that stand with the guidlines of not to give dairy for 6m?

I suspect the answer is going to make me feel really silly.

MmeBovary · 13/07/2008 23:02

Sorry I'm quite new here and haven't entered into any bf vs formula disucssions but...how does it help anyone to make it formula sound so awful! I would love to have breast fed, but despite much effort it just wasn't going to happen. So dd was exclusively fed on the "denatured, chemically processed, freeze dried, reconstituted." stuff. It wasn't what I wanted for her, but it was what happened. I certainly didn't do it because it was the easy option, or cos some woman off the tele was recommending it....

ilovemydog · 13/07/2008 23:21

MmeBovary - I don't think that anyone is making any judgement calls as far as your own personal decision. You say that you wanted to B/f, so I think the collective annoyance isn't directed at you, but at health care professionals who didn't ensure that you had the support you needed that resulted in you using formula, which I assume wasn't your first choice?

hunkermunker · 13/07/2008 23:34

It doesn't surprise me as much as it would've done a while ago.

But it's still shocking that people really don't know what is in the stuff they feed their babies - and even if they know it's made from cows milk, they don't know what the other stuff is.

MmeBovary, it's not about making people feel bad, truly. But if posting this sort of thread makes someone feel it's more important to ask for and get the right support, that's a good thing, surely? SO many women are let down by healthcare providers who don't think there's much point breastfeeding when formula's pretty much the same stuff as breastmilk - by highlighting that it's really not really, hopefully more women in the future will be less likely to feel as you do now.

I'm sorry you feel a bit shit reading this though

EyeballsintheSky · 13/07/2008 23:40

Time to hide this topic I think, because regardless of the fact that you all mean well and don't seek to make judgements on peoples' individual decisions, by describing formula the way you do DOES make people like me feel bad. And after 6 months I've had enough of the guilt.

Someone compared formula to crap chicken nuggets. You can choose any one of a thousand meals but as far as I know there are only two choices for infants. Only they're not always choices and if one doesn't work then you're screwed and every bottle I give DD gives me a mental image of all the bad things I'm pumping into her and it's not a good feeling.

And I understand that it's me being unreasonable. I've always tried not to let threads like this get to me but I couldn't help this one. Serves me right for clicking on it . And I'm typing this on a phone and it's taken bloody ages so with that I'm withdrawing.

As you were ladies

ilovemydog · 13/07/2008 23:47

Eyeballs - please don't feel bad.

Where did 'crap chicken nuggets' come from?

EyeballsintheSky · 13/07/2008 23:59

Well I might have added the 'crap' bit but that was what (was it Sabire - don't want to get personal though) was implying.

I totally realise that discussion like this is all for the good and worthwhile if it makes women more informed. I wish I'd known some of you in RL back in January when I needed help because there was bugger all of any use coming my way.

When DD is a teenager and shovelling burgers down her neck then maybe I won't feel guilty any more. I guess it's still all too recent.

ExterminAitch · 14/07/2008 00:03

feel sad, eyeballs, feel disappointed. but don't feel guilty, we can only do what we can do. bfing isn't easy At All in the beginning (and for some of us the difficulties are insurmountable) but if there were more support out there then maybe we could all talk about that honestly. hopefully in time you'll make your peace with what happened... but it's not instant, like you say. or wasn't for me, at any rate.

ilovemydog · 14/07/2008 00:07

eyeballs - breastfeeding is difficult, babies are difficult, and am sure you are doing just fine

I feel guilty about all sorts of things, so don't think you have a monopoly on it!!!

NotQuiteCockney · 14/07/2008 06:53

Normal formula has lactose in it - as does breast milk. "Lactose" means "milk sugar".

Those of us who have problems digesting lactose normally develop those problems around the age of 7, when children are traditionally weaned.

The changes made to cow's milk, to make protein, are about fiddling with the proteins and fats. It's cow's milk proteins that allergic children are generally reacting to, and which parents are advised to not feed their babies before 6 months or a year.

sprogger · 14/07/2008 07:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sarah293 · 14/07/2008 07:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

AbbeyA · 14/07/2008 07:31

I have never given any thought to what was in formula milk. I had never intended to use it so it didn't matter. If I hadn't managed to bf I would have looked into it at that stage.

sabire · 14/07/2008 08:03

Well - if we don't get told how formula is made and what's in it, then all we have to rely on is the marketing fluff. Which is clearly where most women DO derive their understanding of what formula is.

My description of formula as "denatured, chemically processed, freeze dried, reconstituted...." was a bald statement of how formula is made. I haven't used any emotive words. Why is it that just giving the facts of how formula is made perceived as an insult?

I think people need to know what is in the food they're giving their children and how it's made - at any age.

I look back to when I had my first and it didn't cross my mind to question what I was buying and giving her. I kind of accepted that formula was as much a normal part of a baby's life as nappies and babygros. You buy it. Babies drink powdered milk.

Riven - I accept what you say - of course it's true that if you don't have a choice then it's kinder not to talk about what's in formula and how it's made.

But what about all those people who are in a position to choose? Don't they have a right, and a responsibility to know what's in the food they're giving their babies?

BouncingTurtle · 14/07/2008 08:28

Yes it is awful reading this if you cannot breastfeed. But if you can't bf then you should NEVER feel guilty, you have done the best you can by your baby. The ones that should feel guilty are those HCPs who could have helped you bf and didn't.

But IME there are too many women CHOOSING to ff without knowing all the facts, the ones that think that formula is the same as or better than breastmilk, or that breastfeeding is disgusting. They're the ones that need to be educated.

FrannyandZooey · 14/07/2008 08:34

just mentioned your anecdote to dp, HC and he didn't know either! I said "well it's cow's milk" and he said "oh yeah, you mix the chemical powder stuff with cow's milk to make the drink I suppose"

I would love to see a wide spread poll on this

hunkermunker · 14/07/2008 08:42

It's all part of the "special baby food" culture that's been built up around feeding babies, imo. Like Cow & Gate's "baby grade" fruit and veg - not organic, but baby-grade...

When I gave DS1 a stick of cheese when he was about 7 or 8mo, I got asked if it was "special baby cheese". [wtf]

sprogger · 14/07/2008 08:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hunkermunker · 14/07/2008 08:59

Fair point, Sprogger, but given that a lot of women who have babies have friends who will not have babies, either at that time or ever, it's sort of nice to at least hope that they'll have some idea of what's in the stuff they'll no doubt tell their friend she ought to use at some point after she's had her baby.

But I do agree, getting pregnant women to think about what's in it is a good plan. The key is not to build up formula as something that you don't want to put into your baby AND THEN fail to help the woman put breastmilk into her baby.

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